Noah Demetrius Reed v. State of Kansas

Summary

The United States District Court for the District of Kansas provisionally granted the petitioner’s motions to proceed in forma pauperis and substituted Tim Easley, warden of Larned State Correctional Facility, as the proper respondent. The court directed the petitioner to show cause why his federal habeas action should not be stayed pending resolution of a related state K.S.A. 60-1507 proceeding, because the petition’s timeliness under AEDPA depends on whether that state proceeding is properly filed. The court denied the motion for appointment of counsel without prejudice.

Holdings

1. The proper respondent is the person with custody over the petitioner, ordinarily the warden of the facility where the petitioner is confined; therefore, Tim Easley was substituted for the State of Kansas.
2. Because the timeliness of the § 2254 petition depended on whether the pending K.S.A. 60-1507 motion would qualify for statutory tolling, Petitioner was ordered to show cause why the federal case should not be stayed and held in abeyance pending final resolution of the state proceeding.
3. Reed was not entitled to appointment of counsel at the initial stage of the case, and his motion for appointment of counsel was denied without prejudice.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the federal habeas petition's timeliness under the one-year AEDPA limitation period depended on the outcome of Reed's pending K.S.A. 60-1507 proceeding such that the federal action should be stayed and held in abeyance.
2. Whether Tim Easley, the warden of the facility where Reed was confined, should replace the State of Kansas as the respondent.
3. Whether Reed was entitled to appointment of counsel at the initial stage of the federal habeas proceeding.

Disposition

other